Agenda item

To consider the following motions on the theme submitted by members of the council:

 

·  “No Recourse to Public Funds”

 

·  Housing for Older Residents

 

·  Active Communities and Older People.

The Mayor reminded the meeting that it had previously agreed that there would be a single debate on the themed motions. 

 

MOTION 1 – “No Recourse to Public Funds” (see page 4 of the main agenda)

 

Councillor Toby Eckersley, seconded by Councillor Michael Mitchell, moved the motion. 

 

Councillor Sunil Chopra, seconded by Councillor Rowenna Davis, moved Amendment A.

 

MOTION 2 – Housing for Older Residents (see page 5 of the main agenda)

 

Councillor Adele Morris, seconded by Councillor Michael Bokola, moved the motion. 

 

Councillor Michael Situ, seconded by Councillor Lorraine Lauder, moved Amendment B.

 

MOTION 3 – ACTIVE COMMUNITIES AND OLDER PEOPLE (see pages 5 - 7 of the main agenda)

 

Councillor Rebecca Lury, seconded by Councillor Lorraine Lauder, moved the motion. 

 

Councillor Anood Al-Samerai, seconded by Councillor Denise Capstick, moved Amendment C.

 

Following debate (Councillors Columba Blango, Fiona Colley and Catherine Bowman), the Mayor announced that the time allocated to the themed section of the meeting had expired.  The clerk announced that the amendments and the substantive motions would be voted on separately.

 

Vote on Motion 1 – “No Recourse to Public Funds”

 

Amendment A was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

The substantive motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.  That council assembly notes the increasing budgetary pressures caused by recourse to council funds by persons who, by virtue of their immigration status, have "no recourse to public funds", and in particular the advice in respect of adult services provided to cabinet on 19 November 2013 as follows:

 

"Clients with no recourse to public funds are 25% higher than the previous year"

 

2.  That council assembly recognises that this is an important issue which does not stop at the borders of the borough. Council assembly therefore calls on cabinet to review Southwark’s position and to look into what more government could do to address this on a London-wide basis.

 

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the cabinet for consideration.

 

Vote on Motion 2 – Housing for Older Residents

 

Amendment B was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

The substantive motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That council assembly:

 

1.  Notes that suitable housing for older people in London remains in serious short supply and that demand is only likely to increase as our borough’s population ages.

 

2.  Recognises that there is a growing need for housing for older people to offer a range of different tenures and support options, including mainstream, specialist and residential care housing.

 

3.  Welcomes this administration’s commitment to supporting older people to stay independent in their own homes for as long as possible, in line with what people tell us they want.

 

4.  Recognises that there has been a collapse in house building of all types nationally due to Liberal Democrat/Tory government policies and welcomes the steps that Southwark Council is taking to combat the London housing crisis.

 

5.  Notes that 61% of the older population in Southwark are tenants of social landlords and welcomes the commitment by this administration to build 11,000 new council homes in Southwark – representing the biggest home building programme of its kind in the country.

 

6.  Welcomes the cabinet’s commitment through the housing strategy vision to building lifetime homes, delivering extra care housing, exploring other specialist housing options for older people, and adapting properties to enable older and disabled residents to live independently as long as possible in their communities.

 

7.  Welcomes this administration’s commitment to ensuring new homes are built to ‘Lifetime Standards’, making it easier to adapt homes to meet future changing needs.

 

8.  Further welcomes the cabinet’s allocation of £4.712 million for energy efficient measures in district heating, making the systems more energy efficient, reliable and contributing to a reduction in fuel bills for approximately 17,000 properties in the borough.

 

9.  Welcomes the development of new ‘extra care’ homes at the site of the new Centre of Excellence, which will include specialist nurses on site, helping to keep people out of hospital or residential care unless necessary and giving residents access to first class services at the new dementia day centre.

 

10.  Calls on the cabinet to continue to support older people who wish to downsize to smaller homes on the same estate. Council assembly welcomes the fact that older people are currently exempt from the government’s bedroom tax and congratulates the Chartered Institute of Housing for pointing out the flaw in the government’s policy, which would have meant pensioners living with someone of working age would be hit by the tax. Council assembly calls on the cabinet to press the government to continue to ensure older people are not hit by the bedroom tax in an attempt to force them to downsize.

 

11.  Notes that whatever campaign they run, the Liberal Democrats consistently propose building something on the Dulwich Hospital site. The proposed retirement village set out in this motion adds to the growing list the Liberal Democrats have suggested for the site, which includes a medical centre, a primary school, a secondary school, private homes, a nursery, a police base, sports facilities, gardening facilities, indoor community space, council offices and space for voluntary organisations. Council assembly believes that people in East Dulwich deserve better than an uncosted and ill considered shopping list from the Liberal Democrats.

 

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the cabinet for consideration.

 

Vote on Motion 3 – Active Communities and Older People

 

Amendment C was put to the vote and declared to be lost.

 

The substantive motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.  Council assembly welcomes this administration’s commitment to supporting people to live long, healthy lives, and to helping older people stay independent in their own homes and integrated in our communities for as long as possible – in line with what people tell us they want.

 

2.  Council assembly recognises that the 22,000 older people in Southwark form a very diverse group, including people who are: in their sixties through to people over 100; retired or in employment; carers (for example, for elderly parents, a partner or grandchildren); in full health, ill or frail; or disabled - as well as being diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, sexuality and faith and belief.

 

3.  Council assembly also recognises that almost all of the council’s strategies and policies affect older people – including on the economy, environment, transport, regeneration, culture and leisure, community safety, housing, health and social care.

 

Helping older people have healthy, active lives in our community

 

4.  Council assembly notes the good work that the administration, across all departments, does with older people to help them stay healthy, active and integrated in our communities, including, for example:

 

(1)  Providing employment support through Southwark Works and the independent living service.

 

(2)  Enabling volunteering opportunities through our volunteering strategy. We applaud the valuable Olympics and Paralympics contribution that Southwark volunteers of all ages made, including older people.

 

(3)  Offering reduced price or free access to physical activity for older people - including 60 pence swimming; free exercise classes; free group walks; and the ‘Silver’ programme in leisure centres.

 

(4)  Working with GPs and hospitals to provide community exercise referrals and supporting older people identified through the health check programme to access physical activity as a preventative measure.

 

(5)  Ensuring new homes are built to ‘Lifetime Standards’, making it easier to adapt homes to meet future changing needs.

 

(6)  Tacking health inequalities and the addressing the causes of the borough’s health challenges – including cardio-vascular disease, stroke, lung diseases, liver diseases cancers, diabetes, and sexually transmitted diseases – to help people live longer, healthier lives.

 

5.  Council assembly recognises the excellent work done by voluntary and community organisations across the borough to help older people stay active and integrated in our community.

 

Caring for vulnerable and frail older people in our community

 

6.  Council assembly notes that government cuts since 2010 have taken over £1.2 billion out of social care for older people in the UK.  Despite these cuts, this administration has prioritised looking after vulnerable and frail people in our community, aiming to treat every person as we would wish a member of our family to be treated.

 

7.  Council assembly welcomes the steps this administration has taken to help older people stay living independently in their own homes and communities for as long as possible and delaying or avoiding the need for hospital or residential care - in line with what people say they want, including:

 

(1)  Halving the price people pay for meals on wheels to £1.71, the lowest price in London – after the price was hiked under the previous administration.

 

(2)  Agreeing plans to create a ‘Centre of Excellence’ day centre for older people with dementia and other complex needs – due to open in 2015 with enhanced, specialist facilities and guaranteed places for everyone using the council’s existing day centres.

 

(3)  Working with partners - including Lambeth Council, hospitals, GPs and others – to integrate health and social care provision through the Southwark and Lambeth integrated care programme; helping people to avoid preventable hospital admissions.

 

(4)  Providing personal budgets to people who need social care, giving them choice and control over the support they have, to best fit their needs and aspirations. Southwark Council is in the top quartile of performance nationally for personal budgets.

 

(5)  Creating an ‘Innovation Fund’ to provide funding to voluntary sector providers, creating new services which give people real choice over how they allocate their personal budgets.

 

(6)  Creating a single social care phone line for people to get on-the-spot advice for themselves or their loved ones from social care experts.

 

(7)  Helping people stay living healthily and independently in their own homes and communities for longer, through home care; reablement; sheltered housing (where we recently reintroduced wardens); and an expansion of extra care housing – as well as our handyperson service.

 

(8)  Signing up to Unison’s Ethical Homecare Charter and ensuring that workers providing care services are paid the London Living Wage and that care visits are not as short as 15 minutes.

 

(9)  Creating a new carers’ strategy, to provide carers – many of them who are older people themselves - with support in their caring responsibilities and also support for themselves to stay healthy and pursue their other aspirations alongside caring.

 

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the cabinet for consideration.